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First Watch: The Moth & The Flame, ‘Winsome’

If you try to watch this video for its plot, good luck. There’s a mermaid, a sandstorm, a dude, a chase, sea creatures, close-up lips … I tried, but gave up and simply gave in to the flow of the song and the images.

The Moth & The Flame are a Los Angeles-based trio just a few years old, with beginnings in Provo, Utah. The band’s music — centered on guitar, keys and drums — has always been intertwined with strong visuals. They’ve built giant beastly sculptures and turned venues into moonscapes or dreamscapes. Having written “Winsome,” a tune with a quirky beat, the band wanted visuals that would highlight that unorthodox element. “We wanted something that would help people digest the tricky 9/8 time signature,” the band wrote in an email. “Fantastical creatures and a mermaid turned out to be the perfect thing.” Those elements are the work of the video’s director, Rebecca Thomas, who wrote that she “wanted to make a dreamlike, multi-layered narrative to match the song” and its unusual rhythm. I’m especially fond of her undulating sea creatures.

“Winsome” appears on The Moth & The Flame’s 2013 EP called &, which was produced by Joey Waronker, a drummer with a long, strong history, he’s worked with Beck and Atoms For Peace recently. The Moth & The Flame will have a new record in 2014 produced by Peter Katis, a producer who has recorded Jonsi, The National and Frightened Rabbit, to name a few.